TEAR: Tales from Every Adjacent Realm
by AvALoN93
Summary: After being whisked away to a different dimension while on a Pokemon Ranger mission, Ash learns from new allies that the time stream is dying and the fate of the universe is at the mercy of the entity named XANA...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

For those of you who do managed to recognize me through my metamorphasis on deviantART, I hope that those of you who I have shunned childishly will be willing to open up your hearts to review my work once again. (I promise not to be a brat this time.) And for those of you who have JUST met me now, then I hope you enjoy my first work on in a LONG while. (in a long while, I mean almost a year and a half)

Yes, this is a multi-crossover. So, that means, I don't own any characters from Pokemon, and any other media that might pop up in future pages. Just saying that now. As much as I would love it if I did, I know for a fact that I don't. I'm merely a fan. (But, the character, Dinah is my OC.) Also, if you don't like multi-crossovers, then you can choose to either give this one a shot and let me know what you think of it - in a kind and civilized manner, like saying _what_ is wrong with my writing - or you can just walk away and keep browsing for something to read in this vast library. You're in control.

In this story, the universe of Pokemon is featured - at first - on the anime series. About 8 years after the series, to be exact, considering that Ash doesn't age in the show. -.-  
I promise I will be uploading the prequel to this soon, but either way, you'll be learning about the Egg (you'll know what I mean when you read it) and its history with Ash's "last mission" and how it ties in with our current story later on in the fic. But, if you guys just want to see something more indepth, I'll be sure to finish the "final" draft of the first chapter at least. (I say "final" because I know for sure that it probably won't be.)

Anyway, enough with me blabbering! Enjoy the show, and please review!

Sincerely,  
[at]vALoN (AvALoN93)

* * *

**Chapter One:**

Ash took one last look at the gold, metal egg – adorned with multi-colored stoned switches with golden handles and a gold crown-shaped key on the top of the oval-shaped sphere – before he put it back into his messenger bag. The bag also carried a first-aid kit, a canteen, a bento box from his mother (Even at the age of 18, he was still living with his mother.), a can of PokeFood and his Pikachu's food bowl, as well as a Polaroid camera and a journal with a silver ball-point pen.

One of the gold angel wings attached to the sides of the egg got snagged to the side of the bag, causing Ash to let out an exasperated sigh as he tucked the wing off of the blue fabric and back into the bag completely. He closed the top before slinging the bag over his shoulder. He then realized that his childhood Pokemon companion, Pikachu – a yellow electric mouse with pointy ears with black tips and a lightning bolt shaped tale – was hiding behind the bag on Ash's bed, watching his trainer packing for his latest mission as a Pokemon Ranger.

"Come on, Pikachu, stop thinking about that dream already." Ash frowned as he sat on his bed beside the furry little Pokemon.

Pikachu continued to pout and furrow at Ash stubbornly. The night before, Pikachu had woken up in a cold sweat at one in the morning because of a nightmare that he had claimed was a foretelling of the future.

"I don't think even a Pokemon can tell if and how somebody is going to die." Ash had reassured groggily that night before going back to sleep.

"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu protested.

"This mission will be fine!" Ash reassured again as he stood back up and offered his shoulder to his companian with an equally reassuring smile. Reluctantly, Pikachu heaved a sigh and jumped onto Ash's shoulder. He gave him a look that said "Don't say I didn't told you so."

***

"Mom, I'm heading out!" Ash called from the edge of the rice paddies to where his mother, Delia, was working with the other women of Pallet Town.

Delia looked up from her work and saw her son waving at her from the distance. "Oh, you going already?" she called.

"It's going to take a while to get to Fiore." Ash replied. "I have to take a ferry there from Viridian City."

"Oh, okay, sweetie!" Delia answered as Ash gave one final wave to his mother before walking towards the urban area of Pallet Town. Delia straightened her back and called after Ash, "Eat on the ferry if you can, okay?!"

Ash stopped walking for a moment to turn and face his mother again. "I will!"

As Ash spun around and began walking again, Delia called out one more time, "And don't forget-!"

"To wear clean underwear, I know!" Ash called back, this time, not bother to face Delia to hide his embarrassment.

"Actually listen to me this time!" Delia yelled over the distance between her and her son. "As a boy your age, who knows what might cause you to-!"

_"Mom!"_ Ash exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks and whirling around to face his mother, his face flushing red.

"Okay! Bye, honey!" Delia called hurriedly, realizing that she had gone a little too far. She waved one last time as she called out, "Be careful!"

Ash sighed in embarrassment as he turned around to face the urban area of Pallet Town again, the women working in the rice paddies beginning to giggle. "I will, mom! Love you!"

"Love you, too!" Delia called as her son disappeared from her view. She sighed and looked up at the sky. The perfect blue canvas had a sliced tear in its fabric, the loose ends fluttering in the atmosphere. The cut revealed a surreal backdrop of a dark blue watery sky with sparkling stars and cosmos. It seemed like only yesterday that Delia saw the golden light release from the middle of the ocean and leave the fluttering wound in the sky. What worried Delia the most, was that the light had been emitted from the gold egg-like mechanism that her son had recovered from Team Rocket and Team Aqua's co-joined underwater headquarters.

Delia closed her eyes and prayed silently, "Please watch over our son, Harold." - she opened her eyes and looked up wistfully at the fluffy white clouds in the distance - "I can't bear to lose you both."

***

"Hey, Dinah!" Ash greeted with a grin to the Pokemon Ranger HQ's receptionist. "How you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing great!" Dinah responded with a smile. Ash could have sworn that he heard a tinge of uneasiness in the young woman's voice, but he brushed the thought aside, despite the fact that he knew that her reply was a tad bit rushed...

"You know anything about the new mission?" Ash asked as Dinah handed Ash the sign-in clipboard.

Dinah shook her head vigorously as Ash signed in. "All I know is that it's top secret. They wouldn't even let me in on it."

More uneasiness. But, again, Ash let it slide.

"Top secret?" Ash turned to face Pikachu. "Sounds pretty cool, don'tcha think?"

"Piiikaaa... (I don't know...)" Pikachu answered uneasily.

"Lighten up!" Ash frowned. He turned back to face Dinah with a smile. He waved as he walked towards the main headquarters room. "Thanks, Dinah! See ya!"

"No problem!" Dinah called after Ash, returning the wave. Once she saw that Ash was out of view and earshot, Dinah's smile faded into a worried expression. At that moment, a tall blond-haired man with broad shoulders and sea-blue eyes dressed in the Rangers uniform - a black t-shirt with dark grey capris with the signature Ranger red and yellow half-jacket and belt and sneakers - was passing the receptionist desk. Dinah reached over the desk and grabbed his arm, stopping the man in his tracks.

"Jack, I need your help." Dinah whispered desperately.

The man named Jack Walker stopped dead in his tracks mid-step. He joined Dinah at the receptionist desk and made it seem like they were having a casual conversation.

"Did you find out who it is?" Jack asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it." Dinah replied. She took the sign-in clipboard and pointed at the last name to sign in. Jack's expression turned into alarm and began running towards the direction that Ash had went.

As he nudged past fellow Rangers and researchers, Jack rushed through the tunnel-style hallway to the one place that was only authorized to the new administration.

From the beginning, Jack always thought that the new administration was a little suspicious. Once the Gold Egg was developed, his suspicions began to grow, up to the point where he is running towards the one room where the non-admins were restricted from.

Now, here he was, casually walking through the industrial-style metal door that held a sign that said "Authorized Personnel Only." The sight of the room surprised Jack, as well as scared him. The walls were a bright white. Everybody wore white lab coats and sunglasses, rushing around confirming all of the final programming. In the center of the room was a floating platform in the shape of a clock's face with roman numerals and two rapidly spinning hands. On top of the suspended, glowing platform was Ash in a kneeling position and holding Pikachu tightly in his arms.

Frantically, Jack snatched a white lab coat from the coat hanger by the door as well as a pair of sunglasses. He took brisk steps to the platform while he spoke into a hidden microphone that was attached to his shirt. "Code yellow, Jeremie. Did you come into contact with Dialga and Palkia yet?"

"Yeah, we did." the voice of Jeremie replied. "We're ready whenever you are."

"Great." Jack nodded.

"Still, Jack." Jeremie reminded gravely. "Just try to get him off of the platform at all costs. XANA can't get his hands on him, am I clear?"

Jack looked up at the young man and his childhood companion, both focused on their supposed goal with their eyes shut closed, the platform releasing gusts of wind upwards. "Crystal." Jack paused for a moment. "By the way... do you know how to use a Poke'ball?"

Jack could hear Jeremie shrugging on the other end. "Well, it's not _that_ hard..."

***

Dinah jumped when the red-haired woman slammed her hands down on the receptionist's table, her blue eyes burning with anger.

"What do you mean I can't see him?! I just made an appointment with you guys so that I can see him privately!" the woman snapped.

"I-I'm sorry, Ms. Waterflower, but he's... unavailable at the moment." Dinah stuttered nervously. She wished she could tell her, she really did! But the circumstances at this moment where just too risky.

"Well, where is he then?" the woman huffed. "If you guys aren't going to bring him out here, I'm going to go after him myself!"

"Ah, that's not necessary!" Dinah exclaimed, jumping out of her seat, startling the woman. "Please, just wait until he's done and then he will be right with you!"

_Come on, Jack, what the hell is taking you so long?!_ Dina snapped at the senior Pokemon Ranger in her head.

"You honestly don't expect me to wait for him, do you?!" the woman continued her angry stampede of one. "I've already waited for who-knows-how-long just to see his face!"

"Look, Ms. Waterflower, I understand that you're quite excited about seeing Mr. Ketchum, but I'm afraid that you'll just have to - eep!"

Dinah was cut short when a picnic basket was slammed down onto the counter. "See this basket? It's full of food that I prepared for the two of us so that we could have a picnic today in this beautiful weather..." - her face was now uncomfortably close to Dinah's, causing the timid receptionist to shrink even more - _"Don't tell me that I've wasted four laborous hours for nothing!!"_

_Jack, you wouldn't fail me now, would you?_ Dinah thought worriedly as she yelped, loosing her balance and falling out of her spinny chair.

As Dinah climbed back onto her feet, she said, "Ms. Waterflower, please, I beg you to-!" Dinah stopped when she realized that both the picnic basket and the woman had disappeared. Panicked, Dinah whirled her head towards the hallway that Jack had just went down to see a flash of red hair and red high-top sneakers running.

"Ah!" Dinah squeaked as she scrambled out of her receptionist station, chasing after the troublesome woman. "Ms. Waterflower, please wait!"

***

"Psst! Ash!"

Ash slowly opened his eyes, fighting against the strong gusts of the platform below him. His vision was blurred at first, but then focused to reveal a researcher with blonde hair.

"Huh?" Ash blinked away the murkiness in his brain before he managed to recognize who was hiding behind the sunglasses and white lab coat.

"Jack?!" Ash exclaimed.

"Shh!" Jack hissed. He then replied with a grin, "Yup, it's me, kiddo!" Then his grin faded and his expression turned serious. Even behind the sunglasses, Ash could tell that his eyes had followed suit to his face. "Listen, you know what's going on?"

"Yeah, I'm being transported to another dimension for the mission." Ash replied with a proud smile. Then his smile faded. "Why, is something wrong?"

"When you're about to have your soul destroyed by a viral shadow, I'd say that's something wrong." Jack answered.

"Hey, get out of the way!" the head researcher called from the control panel, where the researchers have all gathered. "Transportation commencing now!"

At that moment, the door burst open to reveal Dinah frantically chasing after a young woman roughly around Ash's age with short, red hair and aquamarine blue eyes, wearing a blue button-up tank top with an exposed mid-section and a matching mini skirt and yellow Converse sneakers. She held a picnic basket in her hand. Their eyes widened with shock.

"No!" the red-haired woman cried, rushing towards the glowing platform. Her picnic basket dropped, spilling the contents of sandwiches, a meticulously decorated cake, pastries and homemade beverages, staining the white floor with their scattered remains. "Ash!"

Ash's eyes widened as Pikachu's eyes flew open when he realized what was happening. The moment froze for an instant when Ash saw the woman running towards him. Years had passed, but he knew those eyes anywhere.

Then, everything came rushing back into reality.

"Ash, get off, you fucking idiot!" Misty screamed as she ran towards the whirring and glowing platform.

Ash shot to his feet with Pikachu still in his arms and struggled against the wind to jump off the platform but failed to.

"Code green, code green! Begin Dimensional Time Stream Reversal, now!" Jack cried into his microphone as the researchers began charging towards the group of rebels.

The platform glowed brightly, blinding Ash and Pikachu. The air was pushed out of Ash's lungs and he began to feel light-headed. Through the hazy lights, Ash saw Misty's hands fight through the forceful lights and wind. Ash reached his hand out to grab them.

The moment seemed to move in slow motion. Neither could hear anything, neither could see anything. All they heard were their own rapid heartbeats and all they saw where each other and their outstretched hands. In the brief moment his fingers met her's, a nearly heart-stopping shock ran up his arms and his spine.

Just as he skimmed his fingers against hers, he was thrown into the air like a ragdoll in a tornado. Beyond the roof of the headquarters, the tear in the sky began illuminating the world.

The room was filled with a riot of scrambling researchers to remove the glitch in the system and contain the rebels.

As Misty struggled to escape from the grasp of two security guards that had apparently barged through the metal doors when nobody was looking, a pillar of white light shot through the roof of the labratory, debris falling rapidly to the ground, staining the white room and destroying the systems, causing the little hold the lab had on the transportation mechanism to be completely destroyed. The platform spat blue sparks as the mechanism became completely spiritual, causing the white light to turn into a marbling pink and beige. As the light faded, all eyes followed the pillar of light to where the tear in the sky was, the seams threatening to be torn even further as the tear spilled the light onto the surface of the Earth.

"Transfer connection successful!" Jeremie's voice called over the earpiece. "Beginning ritual, now!"

Misty bit one security guard's arm, causing him to let her go, screaming in pain. Once she was free, Misty kicked the other security guard in the crotch, causing him to fall to the ground in immense pain. Misty rushed to the shining pillar just as the light was beginning to blind the room again.

_"Ash!"_ Misty called until she felt like her vocal box was bleeding.

The light blinded the room, and the region of Fiore for an instant. When the light faded, Misty lowered the arms that she raised to shade her eyes and saw that the platform, pillar and light were gone... and they took Ash with them.

"No..." Misty whispered.

"Dimensional Time Stream Reversal complete..." Jeremie reported as Jack recovered from the light.

Misty sank to her knees as her eyes began to water, her knees slamming into the destroyed cake that she slaved two hours over, making it just for her and him. She didn't care that they were leaking into the crevices of her knees. Dinah ran to her side as Misty began crying.

"He should be landing in our dimension pretty soon."

_"No!"_ Misty screamed, tears flying from her eyes. "No, this isn't happening!"

With a heaving sob, Misty threw her head to the skies, her eyes shut closed and her fists clenched tightly in her lap, screaming to the tear in the sky that stole him away from her, _"This isn't happening!"_

* * *

Inez watched as Matt jumped into the driver's seat of the Cybercoupe beside her, their friends watching them about to take off into the vortex in the middle of Cyberspace just beyond the garage.

"We'll be back as soon as we can, okay?" Matt told Jackie, Slider and Digit.

Slider nodded. "Take your time. You might need it."

"We'll take care of things here while you guys are gone." Digit reassured.

Jackie took the time to walk over to Inez's side of the Cybercoupe and talk to her quietly. "Hey, are you going to be alright with just him and you?"

Inez jumped a little from being snapped out of her daze. She faced her friend with a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. But, hey, at least I'll know he'll protect me, right?"

Jackie patted her friend on the back gently. The pink marble embedded onto Inez's neck sparkled in the flourescent lights. "Just don't overdo it, okay?"

Inez replied with a thumbs-up. "Will do, Jacks."

And with that, the dome-like window of the coupe closed the distance between the two passengers and their friends as they waved good-bye.

Matt glanced over at Inez. "You ready... Nezzie?"

Inez glared at Matt. "Don't call me Nezzie, _Matthew._" - then she smiled - "But, yes. I'm ready."

* * *

"How long will we be gone for?" Holly asked the tiny imp warlock named No.1. This was the first time that the imp was doing such an endeavor as time travel without the assistance of an older warlock. This made the elf proud, but at the same time, worried.

"Well, the time stream is weak at the moment, so it will be a little more easier for me to somehow tame it for you guys to fly through with no problems." No.1 explained. "So, probably five minutes max. So, that would be about five days for you, give or take."

"Well, that's reassuring." Mishi frowned.

Her cousin, Artemis glared at her. "And why exactly are _you_ coming along again?"

Mishi jerked a thumb towards the tall red-headed male beside her. "Because Brian's going, and wherever he goes, I go!" - she winked - "Think of it as just us happening to go the same way as you guys."

Brian laughed at Artemis' peeved expression which made even Artemis' bodyguard, Butler chuckle.

Artemis leaned over to Holly and muttered to her, "Remind me to push her off a cliff upon our arrival."

Holly nudged Artemis a bit too painfully, causing him to yelp in pain. "Artemis..." she snapped warningly.

"Okay!" No.1 said as he cracked his knuckles and wiggled his fingers. "Are you folks ready?"

The party of four turned to face the tiny imp. "Ready." they replied simultaneously.

As No.1 began the ritual, Artemis turned to face Butler. "Take care of my mother while I'm gone, Butler."

Butler nodded with a smile. "Will do, Artemis."

* * *

"Kim, I should warn you that the transport pad isn't guaranteed to work..." Wade explained warningly as Kim and Ron stepped onto the glowing platform. This was one of those rare occasions where a mission was being carried out with Wade physically present rather than over the Kimmunicator device he created. The reason for this was because he had to be physically there to control the Interdimensional Travel Device.

"The Time Stream weakened, so it should be fine, right?" Kim reasoned as her boyfriend and his pet naked mole rat, Rufus joined her. Despite the fact that this was being treated as a mission, neither of them wore their uniform black turtlenecks, cargo pants and black shoes.

"Yeah, but still..." Wade replied warily.

"Don't worry so much, Wade." Ron replied with a smile and a wave of his hand. "It's all good! I mean, we've been through worse before, right?"

Wade sighed. "Fine, suit yourselves. But, don't blame me if you end up landing in the first dimension instead of the third."

"Agreed." Kim and Ron replied with a simultaneous nod.

"Okay!" Rufus squeaked with a tiny thumbs-up.

"Alright..." Wade sighed, cracking his knuckles. "Here goes!"

* * *

Jeremie watched the blinking dot move across the digital mainframe of the Time Stream on his computer screen. He was coming... in a matter of minutes, he would be falling from the sky and into the third dimension.

He continued to watch three other blinking dots - all different coloured - move from different points of the Time Stream towards a common destination: the third dimension. They all moved at different paces, based on their distance in the Universe as well as their starting times. The first dot was still the fastest and the one that was in first place.

"Like bees to honey..." Jeremie sighed exasperately. "Well, we'll be needing their help. Whether I'd like to admit it or not, all I've done is try to kill myself by taking this on by myself. Seeing as I'm talking to myself, I surely must be going insane." - he looked at the movements of the blinking dots again, his expression darkening as a fifth, black dot joined in the race. But, despite his late start, he was much more faster than the others. This one was close behind the first dot - "You'd better get ready, XANA... Because we're not alone this time..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

Again, I do not own the following:  
-Pokemon (both the anime and game franchise)  
-Code Lyoko (which only ended up being a franime franchise)

I also don't own "Code Lyoko: A Retelling" and its OC, Jin Ishiyama. That's G-Force4's. And it's really good, by the way. If you haven't checked it out already, check it out right after you read this! (or before it, whichever you prefer! Or both at the same time, now that's multi-tasking!)

Enjoy, and please review~

Sincerely,  
[at]vALoN (AvALoN93)

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

"Jin! Prepare the Skidbladnir and the Undine with Aelita and Yumi!"

"Yes, sir!" Jin replied excitedly with a salute before he rushed towards the industrial elevator behind him. As soon as he entered, he punched the red button and waited anxiously as the doors slowly slid to a close, the golden lock hissing shut as the heavy metal wires hauled the metal box and the Japanese teen down towards the landing dock.

18-year-old Jin Ishiyama has been through many trials ever since a computer virus that was thought to be destroyed almost five years ago was revived from a back-up file that Jeremie had overlooked. The virus named XANA had escaped from the back-up server and travelled through the internet, accessing the American government's computers. From there, he possessed the current American President, demanding that they declare sudden war on France and its allies, creating false stories as propaganda. As the French army falls slowly and painfully, Jin, his twin sister, Yumi, and their friends - 16-year-old Jeremie Belpois, Aelita Schaeffer, Odd Della Robbia and 17-year-old Ulrich Stern - banded together to create the Lyoko Warriors once more.

Jin heaved a breath as the elevator shook to a halt. The locks on the lower level's doors clicked and hissed and they were unlocked. The doors opened, releasing a cloud of steam as Jin walked out to be joined by his twin sister, Yumi and their pink-haired friend, Aelita at the dock.

"Tell me something, aniki." Yumi frowned, her black bob-cut fluttering in the winds from the cold ocean winds that blew in from the giant - now open - garage doors, revealing the Parisian landscape behind the two girls. "Do you still believe what Jeremie tells us?"

Jin shrugged. "Aelita's a human on Earth after being trapped in Lyoko for 10 years because of him. XANA was locked away because of Aelita with our help..." - Aelita gave Jin a stern glare - "...and of course, her father. (Aelita's father, Waldo Schaeffer - who went under the alias of Franz Hopper for the remaining days of his life - appeared in the form of a ball of digital energy and gave enough energy force to power Jeremie's anti-virus to destroy XANA forever... or so they had hoped.) After all that we've been through, sis, I would be surprised if Jeremie was wrong."

Yumi sighed as she saw her "aniki" stand on one of the blue and white circled teleportation platforms, preparing to be teleported inside the Skidbladnir; a giant jellyfish-like aircraft that had four pods nestled in its metal tentacles, where the tentacles would depart to release the pods into small warcrafts called NavSkids. (The original Skidbladnir in Lyoko was a watercraft used to access the dangerous Digital Sea without being erased from existence, but Jeremie believed that creating it for the air would be more efficient to lead the Warriors' own war against XANA.) She walked onto the small, identical platform beside her brother with her arms crossed and a stern expression. "I really hope you're wrong, aniki." - Aelita joined the twins on the middle, larger platform - "Because if it's all true, then XANA has the advantage."

The three Warriors on the platforms were blinded by white light as they travelled within five seconds from the platform outside into their respective pods in the Skid - Aelita in the head, circular driver's pod, and Yumi and Jin in their own NavSkid pods - the rumbling waves of the Atlantic Ocean muffled by the tinted walls and windows of their pods. Jeremie's voice came over on the PA system, replying to the conversation that he overheard between the Ishiyama twins.

"I am right, Yumi. And, for your information, we're dead-even with XANA... now that we have our visitor."

"What, you mean this Ash guy?" Jin frowned. "I'm not so sure, Jer... I mean, he's from the First Dimension. Didn't you say that their world is so far apart from ours that they have nothing in common with us?"

"Your point?" Jeremie questioned.

"His ways of dealing with things might be different from ours." Aelita responded. "Jin has a point, Jeremie. What if he's not the one?"

"He was already chosen by legendaries to be a hero. He's saved the world more than once, you guys." Jeremie argued. "And besides, either way, his 'ways of dealing with things' will definately be different from ours to a certain degree anyway."

Aelita pressed several buttons and pulled on various levers, causing a series of metal connectors to shoot into the water, connecting onto a submarine-like blue transportation device with wings and square windows rather than the traditional circle windows of a submarine. "Where did you obtain this information, Jeremie?"

"From Jack." Jeremie replied. "He was there during one of them... Of course, he was only 10 at the time..."

"Who, Jack or Ash?" Jin asked.

"Ash." Yumi replied. "I heard about him, too." - her expression turned deadly serious - "He also has the Egg, Jeremie. How do we know if we can trust him?"

"He was used as a guinea pig without even knowing it, Yumi." Jeremie answered. "He doesn't even know what the heck that Egg does, other than the fact that when he turned on one of the switches, it caused a tear in the sky."

As the Skid slowly drove out of the landing dock, the sunlight filtered through the tinted windows. After a moment of being blinded by the giant ball of energy high in the sky, the three Warriors could see the fluttering tear in the clear blue sky.

"Well, you gotta admit, that's a fair amount of damage right there." Jin commented, half light-heartedly.

"So, when is our visitor scheduled to drop in?" Yumi asked, half-jokingly.

"Anytime now." Jeremie replied. In the main computer room, the blond-haired teen added another channel and got connected with his two other friends. His reluctancy to ask his following question was easily shown in his tone of voice. "Ulrich, Odd.... is the tarp ready?"

"Yup, it's ready!" the purple-clad blonde-teen named Odd replied with a large, toothy grin.

The brown-haired teen that accompanied Odd sensed the embarrassment in his friend's voice. "Jeremie, do you want him to crack his head open when he lands?"

Jeremie growled in irritance. "What part of him being blessed by a divine creature did you not understand?!"

"You can never be too careful, Jeremie!" Odd grinned.

Before Jeremie could argue, the ground shook for a split second. Outside, after the short shake of the ground, the tear began to glow a bright multitude of colours, tinted with gold.

"He's here..." Jeremie announced.

The Warriors blinked away the yellow spots behind their eyes and gaze in amazement as a human-like figure began to fall from the glowing center. His fall from grace was more like a floating-down. He moved like a feather in a still summer breeze. A strange creature that resembled a yellow stuffy with pointed ears and a lightning-bolt-shaped tail and red spots on his cheeks was held in the figure's arms. Once the figure reached near the surface, landing with a small bounce on the tarp that two awe-struck teens were holding out, it was revealed that the figure was a teenaged boy with wild black hair, wearing a black shirt and grey capris with black and yellow fingerless gloves and yellow and red sneakers. The lights faded, returning the sky to normal. At that moment, the boy's eyes fluttered open, revealing bright brown eyes.

* * *

Ash blinked the blurriness out of his eyes, the blue sky and flutter tear focusing. The sky didn't surprise him... though, nor did the sudden change in the scent and atmosphere of the area he had just arrived in: it was the two boys - one who was clad with purple clothing with a cone-shaped hairdo with a splash of purple at the front, and the other with brown hair and dressed in a mixture of green and black with two katanas strapped to his belt - who were hovering over him, holding onto edges of a white tarp that scared him. Their eyes were wide with bewilderment.

"Well, whaddya know?" the purple teen grinned. "Jeremie was right!"

"I don't know, Odd..." the boy with the katanas replied, studying Ash with a critical eye. "He looks a bit scrawny to be a hero to me..."

Ash blinked, his disheveled mind taking a moment to rearrange itself. When the sentance finally processed into his mind, Ash shot up, yelling, offended, "Who you callin' 'scrawny'?!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu cried, trying to calm his trainer down.

In surprise, the two boys dropped the tarp, causing Ash to land on the concrete floor on his bottom, causing a shot of pain to rush up his spine. Ash yelped and fell onto his back, writhing in pain.

"Pikachu..." Pikachu frowned with his arms crossed, standing beside Ash on the tarp.

"Shut up." Ash grunted.

At that moment, a trap door that was a meter away from the three boys shot open, and a blonde-haired teen wearing a blue turtleneck tank top with beige khaki capris and runners burst out of the door. Ash's eyes widened when he saw the teen shoot out of the trapdoor, his glasses slipping down his nose.

"If you're going to use a tarp, guys, use it properly!" the teen snapped, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

Ash shot up from his seat, forgetting about the pain, just as Pikachu shook itself on his stomach. "Wh-who are you?!"

"Huh?" the teen blinked, then smiled. "Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself." - he held out his mechanical arm - "My name is Jeremie Belpois. I'm an acquaintance of Jack Walker and Dinah Anderson."

Just as Ash was about to make a comment, the ground shook again, this time, for a moment longer. The tear's light suddenly turned a murky black and violet, releasing wild jets of black light.

"We've got company!" the boy named Odd suddenly cried as he and his friend rushed towards the edge of the - what seemed to be - cement rooftop. Ash's heart skipped a beat when he saw that their fall was suddenly broken by a flying aircraft and submarine.

"Wh-what in the-?!" Ash stuttered.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the sky. Ash followed his gaze and was shocked to see a red stylized eye glowing on the tear.

Ash held his breath as the boy named Jeremie rushed towards the edge of the roof, holding a walkie-talkie to his face while he was holding two purple and white poke'balls in his hand. "You know the plan, guys!"

Jeremie hooked his walkie-talkie onto his belt and enlargened the poke'balls in both hands. He threw them in the air, crying out, "Dialga! Palkia! Please, we need your help!"

Ash and Pikachu's eyes widened as two bursts of white light illuminated the sky, revealing the two legendary time and space Pokemon when they faded away. The poke'balls were caught by Jeremie's human and mechanical hands as the two divine creatures roared in the sky as they charged towards the dark light with the aircraft and submarine.

"Wh-what the hell is going on?!"


	3. Chapter 3

**TEAR**  
_By: AvALoN_

**Chapter Three**

* * *

The two armoured dinosaur-type Pokemon - one with a blue jewel embedded into its chest with blue decoratives on its plates, and the other with 2 pink jewels placed into its shoulders with similar decoratives in magenta and standing on its hind legs in the air - roared with anger as Time and Space - their homes - fluttered helplessly in the air, weakening slowly.

The shadow didn't back away from the two Pokemon gods. It didn't seem intimidated at all... if anything, Ash swore that he could hear it cackling, rumbling in its non-existent throat.

Ash turned to face the back of the blonde teen. "It's Jeremie, right?" Ash asked, hollering over the rumblings and roars of the creatures that hovered above him in the sky. "What the hell is that thing?!"

Jeremie's eyebrows furrowed as he faced the shadow as if he was facing his arch nemesis. "That is XANA..."

The name triggered something in Ash's mind... something that Jack said to him before he was transported to this new world.

"He wasn't after me, was he?" Ash wondered out loud.

Jeremie glanced over his shoulder at the young man with a neutral expression. "How did you guess?"

At that moment, rays of blue and magenta light shot at the large shadow in the sky as they flew through the sky, attempting to find a weak spot at the intruder.

"Ready, Odd?" Ulrich called to his partner, as the two of them kept their balance on the quivering hovercrafts that they stood on.

Odd replied with a nod as he activated glowing cat claws from his gloves. "Ready when you are!"

"NOW!"

Odd released a showe rof glowing claw bullets towards the shadow, as Ulrich continuously set off golden blades of energy with each slash of his two katanas. The two teens were hoping that their attacks released simultaneously, and at their strongest strength, would at least keep the monstrous being at bay long enough for it to give up and retreat.

Their efforts seemed void as the lights hit their target with small clouds of smoke, dispersing to show that little to no damage was done. The shadow had merely flinched, perhaps throwing its invisible head back with taunting laughter.

"No!" Odd exclaimed.

"Dammit!" Ulrich cursed. He grabbed his walkie-talkie from his belt and radioed into Jeremie's channel. Simultaneously, both the Skid and the Undine began releasing Energy Cannons from the NavSkids that were nestled into its metal tentacles.

"Jeremie, the plan didn't work!" Ulrich hollered over the noise.

"We've got our own problems!" Jeremie replied as a shadow tentacle shot towards the trio on the roof. He turned to Ash and Pikachu. "Can you guys swim?"

Ash and Pikachu nodded simultaneously, with determined expressions plastered onto their faces.

"Then jump!" Jeremie called as he ran to the edg eof the roof at a breathtaking speed. Ash followed suit, Pikachu holding onto him tightly.

"Is he insane?!" Ash cried out as he made a jump for the ocean several meters below him. "We're not gonna make it!"

Ash spread out his limbs into a star shape to create more friction between him and gravity, slowing himself down. Just then, Pikachu cried out, "Pikapi!"

Ash looked over his shoulder and gasped when he saw the tentacle charging towards them.

"Shit!" Ash cursed. "Pikachu, thunderbolt!"

Pikachu's cheeks began sparking as he prepared to release a wave of energy at the arm. With a sustained battle cry, Pikachu released 100,000 volts of electricity from its body at the shadow. For a split moment, the shadow's tentacle dispersed when it came into contact with the lightning bolt.

At the same time below, Jeremie's fall was caught by a NavSkid driven by Jin.

Jeremie had landed on his back with the water misting up around him when a lightbulb suddenly went off in his mind. He scrambled for the walkie-talkie that he had attached to his clip, but realized that it was only beginning to drop down from the sky when he looked up, being met with a slowly growing black dot in murky sky. He flipped over to his hands and knees and faced Jin through the tinted glass. "Tell Aelita to activate a tower!"

Jin leaned in towards the window, straining to hear. _"What?!"_

_"I said, tell Aelita to activate a tower!"_ Jeremie called even louder, as the walkie-talkie kept on falling, as Jeremie had just realized, a good distance away from the NavSkid. The gravitational force of the changed atmosphere seemed to have slowed down the walkie-talkie's fall, frustrating Jeremie even more. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Oh, okay!" Jin called from the NavSkid and radioed into Aelita's channel. "Aelita, activate a tower, please!"

"Huh?" Aelita wondered out loud. "What for?"

"Hold on." Jin replied and turned to face Jeremie again, who seemed to be staring awkwardly at the distance. He tapped the glass to get his attention. "Why?!"

_"Just do it!"_ Jeremie replied, obviously irritated.

Jin radioed back to Aelita. "He said, 'just do it.'"

"Who?"

"Jeremie."

Aelita tried to radio into Jeremie's channel, but failed to do so as something was disturbing the channel. She sighed exhasperatly. "Well, alright. Since it's Jeremie." _He always has a reason for everything... why should now be any different?_

Jeremie glanced up at the sky as a lightning bolt was released from the little yellow mouse-like creature on Ash's shoulder at the shadow tentacle, dispersing it into shadows. As amazing as it was, Jeremie knew that it wasn't going to last them long. He turned back to the NavSkid, slamming against the window. _"Hurry!"_

"He said to hurry." Jin relayed.

Aelita frowned as she prepared to eject her soul into the Lyoko Mainframe. "Just what does he plan to do?" - her body fell back limply as her soul travelled through Cyberspace, binary numbers rushing past her in a dark tunnel before being landed gently on a glowing circular pad. She felt her fingers and tongue go numb and no scent reached her nose as her digital, elfin form approached a transparent blue screen that had the word "CODE" in bold, white letters. She placed her hand on the screen - "He'd better not be doing anything reckless..."

Back on Earth, Jin radioed into his sister's system. "Sis, you're in charge!"

"Huh?" Yumi wondered out loud in shock. Her question was answered when the Skid began rumbling, losing control, causing a yelp to escape from her lips. She rapidly pressed a few buttons and pulled hard on the steering wheel, bringing the Skid to a balanced hover. "Okay, I got it." - she radioed back to her twin brother - "Control of Skid exchanged." she reported.

A window popped up on Yumi's computer screen, displaying a 3D animated figure of Aelita with elf ears and pink markings on her face. "How are you doing, Yumi?"

Before she could answer, Yumi steered the Skid and Undine sharply away from a red laser, the light crashing into the ocean instead, releasing a wave of salt water after the fleeing hovercrafts. The force seemed to continue until it hit a part of the ocean where Jeremie's walkie-talkie had just landed, half-submerged. It was tossed out of the water and into Jeremie's outstretched hand.

"Finally!" Jeremie exclaimed as he clipped the walkie-talkie onto his belt. "Good stuff is happening!" Just as he said that, the turbulance had reached the NavSkid, causing the hovercraft to wobble for a bit. "Whoa!" Jeremie cried.

"Um, could be better." Yumi replied, "How are things in Lyoko?"

"Almost done." Aelita replied, just before the window closed and Aelita's body snapped awake. She pressed a couple of buttons and took control of the Skid once again as she radioed to Jeremie, "Tower activated."

"Thank you!" Jeremie replied with his half-soaked walkie-talkie. He was thankful that Aelita had made them waterproof.

Meanwhile, in the sky, Ash and Pikachu gave each other a high-five. "Nice!" he grinned.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

A blink of an eye later, the shadow recovered with a vengance. It knocked Pikachu off of Ash's shoulder with one tentacle, taking them both by surprise, and began drowning Ash with its shadows with another.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried as his companion began free falling towards the ocean.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called after his trainer as Ash was engulfed by the shadows as Pikachu continued falling.

Pikachu was just about to hit the ocean surface when Jin's NavSkid broke his fall, the force of the hovercraft forcing up a shower of foam and mist around the aircraft.

Pikachu had landed safely in Jeremie's arms, just as green, neon wings made of light emerged from the young teen's back.

As he drove the NavSkid up to a higher altitude, Jin asked Jeremie through the radio, "Think you can take it from here?"

Pikachu climbed up to Jeremie's head, his body nestled between the wings.

"Yeah. Thanks, Jin!" Jeremie replied as he prepared to jump off of the hovercraft.

"Be careful!" Jin called as Jeremie leaped off of the NavSkid and began flying through the air, Pikachu holding tightly onto Jeremie's head as the wind nearly pushed the air out of his lungs.

Just then, the shadows had dispersed around Ash's body, revealing his usual shimmering brown eyes to be dull and lifeless. His hand hovered over the main gold handle of the Egg.

_"Turn the handle..."_ a voice whispered in his head persistently._ "Turn it!"_

_A blinding tower of light shot up at the clear blue sky, the white light so great that Ash wanted to cover his eyes, but at the same time, couldn't bring his arm up to shield his face. His hands were plastered to the key-like handle of the Egg and the wing-shaped handle on its side._

"No..." Ash argued, straining to keep his hand away from the very object that has caused him so much truble. "Not after what happened..."

_Turn it!_ The voice hissed.

_The pillar of light shot straight through the seemingly endless sky, finding its eventual end. It punctures it like a plasma bullet through blue fabric, causing the blue air to shake violently as it was being torn at the seams, a horrible ripping sound resonating throughout the Universe._

"No!" Ash exclaimed.

Ash's hand hovered helplessly over the large handle of the Egg that he held in his arms. The hovering hand shook spasmically as he fought with the shadow that intruded his mind just moments before over his actions.

_"TURN THE HANDLE!"_ The voice roared now, its true, evil intentions no longer hidden.

_The light in his hands were burning him as they tore at the sky, enlargening the tear more and more. He felt it burn through his fingerless gloves and begin at the skin of his palms. Pain coursed through his body as a pale white fire began to engulf his arms._

_"Never!"_ Ash screamed, finally feeling his lungs and throat hurting from his vocal war. _Stop it! I don't need to remember!_

Through the murky darkness that clouded his vision, Ash saw a mechanical hand reach out and grab the hand hovering over the Egg's handle.

The shadow reacted too slowly, and ended up grabbing one of the smaller dials instead and turning it sharply, releasing a tsunami of golden light.

The shadow cried in agony as the light pushed it out of Ash's mind.

Blinded by the light, the Skid and the Undine slowed to a halt on the surface of the ocean. Dialga and Palkia braced themselves as the light engulfed them.

* * *

The tear in the sky glowed blindingly, causing the room to be extremely contrasted between the white light and the black shadows and silouhettes of the people and objects that occupied the room.

Neither beings in the room moved. The woman in the room had a deep frown painted crudely by the shadows and the light on her invisible face.

"The Universe is falling apart." she sighed exasperately. She looked up to face her partner across the room. "We must fix it... _no matter what._"

The man - whose face was also invisible in the crude contrast - knew exactly why his partner put an emphasis on "no matter what." He knew... But, even so, he didn't want to fix it "no matter what." There is no such thing as "no matter what," just "somehow." Never "no matter what."

But, despite this, he nodded grimly, replying hesitantly, "...Agreed."

* * *

The shadow completely dispersed out of sight, and the two Pokemon gods were returned to their rightful places in the Universe, awaiting until they are called upon once again.

When the light cleared, three figures plunged out of the last remains of the light and into the Atlantic Ocean.

* * *

With Jin's NavSkid - with the hatch open and attached to the aquacraft - driving the Undine across the surface of the ocean, the two females sitting anxiously on the top of the craft, they arrived at the location where they last saw the boys drop moments before.

The sky was now a clear blue with a few wisps of clouds in the sky. The tear was still there, fluttering in the atmosphere, and the sun shone brightly next to it.

A few seconds after the Undine arrived at the spot, bubbles began forming on the ocean surface, before it was broken into shattering dew drops of salt water by three heads popping out of the water.

All three on the Undine rushed over to where the side ladder ended to help the three boys out of the water.

Pikachu was the first to hop out, shaking the water out of its fur. As Aelita and Jin helped jeremie off of the ladder, Yumi took the body that Jeremie had handed to her and placed it gently on the roof of the Undine.

Just then, two NavSkids - with their hatches open - landed back into their respective slots in the Skid as Ulrich and odd jumped out of them, returning from their rounds. As they rushed over, Ulrich announced, "Coast is clear. Everything's over... for now."

The two boys stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the body, just as it began coughing up salt water.

"I-is that...?" Odd stuttered.

"No way..." Ulrich blinked.

Ash coughed up the last of the salt water in his lungs and blinked away the salt in his eyes. When his blurry vision focused, he was surprised to see his companions with shocked expressions.

"Hey, guys." he croaked. "Is it over?"

Jeremie nodded. Out of the whole group, he seemed relatively the calmest. "Yeah, for now."

"But, you might wanna check yourself in the mirror..." Jin frowned.

"Huh?" Ash looked down at his hands and was jolted out of his haze by shock. They were smaller, less-caloused than his own. He took off his fingerless gloves to find that his palms were smoother than his own as well.

He stood up and found himself to be a fair amount shorter, too!

"Wh-what in the..." Ash rushed to the edge of the Undine and came face to face with the reflection of a 10-year-old boy with spiky black hair, big brown eyes, and some leftover baby fat in his cheeks, wearing a small, Pokemon Ranger uniform that made him look like he was wearing a Halloween costume.

Ash screamed, his scratchy, adolescent voice echoing in the afternoon sky.

"What in the world is going on here?!"


End file.
